Fleming: We have a strong bowling side

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's heroics in the first match were not enough to take Chennai home as they lost to Mumbai by only 9 runs in their opening game. However, soon after, they bounced back to secure an easy win over Punjab at Mohali. Chennai will be gearing up for another battle as they take on arch-rivals Bangalore in their third match of the tournament.

Chennai coach Stephen Fleming was happy that the team is confidently moving ahead and believes that they will do well in the coming matches. "The first win is always very important for everybody to settle down and the longer it takes to get there, the more nervous and anxious you get," said the coach. "We're happy to have got that first win under our belt and our morale is high after the style of win."

"But having said that, we're a very realistic side. We don't get affected by a big defeat or a big win. So, you won't see us differing from our approach to the game."

The arrival of Albie Morkel in the Chennai camp has certainly boosted their team morale especially since Morkel was responsible for winning them a lot of crucial games in the last season. However, Fleming thinks that they are probably going to stick with the winning combination from the last match and Morkel will have to wait for his chance.

"He looks good. But to be honest, while he's always a chance, given how well the team played in the last match, it will be difficult to make a change. The overseas players did really well in the last game but often a little twisted ankle or a small injury gives other people opportunities. So, we'll have a good chat after training and make sure there are no such injuries. If that's the case, it will be hard for Albie to push his way into the XI," said Fleming.

Fleming, however, hinted that there might be a change in the domestic constitution. Ankit Rajpoot might make way for either Imtiyaz Ahmed or Mohit Sharma as the uncapped fast bowler.

"Rajpoot only bowled one over in the last game so his position does come up for discussion," Fleming said. "Imtiyaz Ahmed and Mohit Sharma are very good campaigners and we've spoken about them. At the start of the season we spoke about who is the best and most in-form Indian fast bowler we have. And their names will certainly come in the discussion for the team for tomorrow."

Fleming admitted that they were concerned about Bangalore's form especially that of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle and knows that keeping them in control will not be easy.

"There's an excellent rivalry between the two sides and we certainly have respect for them after they've won three out of four games. This is going to be a high intensity game with the quality of heads on show and with a guy like Kohli in form, we expect them to fancy their chances of getting a big score," he said.

But Fleming believes that Chennai has the kind of bowling attack that can effectively counter Bangalore's batting strategy. He was confident that they will be able to keep the Bangalore batsmen in check. "We've always managed to combat them well in Chennai and we hope to continue with that. Ashwin has bowled well to Gayle in the past and we've used him well. Now we've got a bit more firepower and we have other options against him. We're definitely a stronger bowling side than we've been in previous years," the Chennai coach said.